GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The collaboration by Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM) and Stellenbosch University (SU) to implement alternative energy management measures to ensure stable electricity supply is still on track, says Christo Nicholls, the driving force behind the DBNLM Alternative Load Reduction Program (ALRP). 

Nicholls is the Utility Research Chair of the university's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

After his public engagement visit to the Karoo on 14, 15 and 16 February, Nicholls told Graaff-Reinet Advertiser last week that underpinning work first had to be completed. 

Nersa, Eskom and other relevant stakeholders were engaged; legal implications considered; and compliance with all legislative prescriptions and supply chain requirements ensured.

The aim of the ALRP is to curtail the severe impact of national load shedding. "Our plan now entails two separate lines of implementation. 

The one focuses on providing customers with immunity against load shedding whilst the other focuses on locally managed load reduction," Nicholls said. For the moment, providing immunity against load shedding will be aimed at the business sector, whilst load reduction is aimed at residents.

Load shedding immunity

"Every qualifying business must be supplied with suitable infrastructure - a solar panel, battery and inverter," Nicholls said. An agreement was reached in principle with one of the biggest businesses in the DBNLM-area, the Pick n Pay in Graaff-Reinet. "DBNLM will supply Pick n Pay with a panel, battery and inverter." This will be implemented within the coming weeks as a trial run.

DBNLM then plans to roll out the programme to all qualifying businesses within the next six months. "Our plan is to comply with all underlying legal aspects, including contractual, supply and structural requirements, from now until the end of July. From July to latest September we want to practically roll out the programme, supplying and installing the infrastructure."

Infrastructure will remain the property of the DBNLM. Although the municipality does not have the capital to acquire the infrastructure, the municipal finance act provides procedures for obtaining funds. "Most important is ensuring that the loan will be paid back. Therefore, the so-called ring fencing strategy by means of revenue interception will be implemented. A determined percentage of revenue earned by the municipality is intercepted and directly paid to the creditor, without such money first getting into the hands of the municipality."

Load reduction

For this measure to be implemented Eskom has to approve DBNLM as a self-rotation municipality, which will mean that Eskom will no longer automatically subject DBNLM to national load shedding. Instead, Eskom will inform DNBLM on the load reduction required; and in turn DBNLM will administer, implement and manage power supply to its customers.

"In a nutshell: residents will still be subjected to load shedding, but not as severely. Take Cape Town - often during national load shedding phase 2, some areas there have load shedding phase 1 and some no load shedding. We can achieve the same effect here," Nicholls said.

"By end of April we want to be able to prove to Eskom that DBNLM is capable and ready to locally manage and achieve load reduction. If all pans out according to plan the municipality could roll out reduced local load shedding within 16 weeks."

Nicholls is optimistic that DBNLM will be the very first municipality nationwide to provide load shedding immunity to its business sector: "Thrilling times ahead!"

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’